Description

GTA III and GTA Liberty City Stories

The Colombian Cartel is exceptionally well armed, and are led by Catalina and Miguel to produce and supply the drug SPANK in Liberty City. It is suggested by Liberty City police records that the Colombian Cartel may be using the local airport and a harbor freight as a front to smuggle the SPANK drug into Liberty City, although they have yet to thoroughly prove this. In Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, Rise FM DJ Boy Sanchez mentions having tried a new drug on the street called "SPANK". This means that SPANK was at least in production in 1998. Miguel was leading this cartel during this period as well; Catalina did not join the organization until 2001, when she shot her boyfriend Claude and took off with the money the pair had just robbed from a bank. There are hints during various cutscenes in GTA III that she and Miguel are lovers and she has used the money from the robbery to heighten her standing in the Cartel. After Claude's feud with the Triads ceases, he faces the Colombian Cartel as a new and worse enemy for the rest of the game.

Miguel is later linked to the assassination of Yakuza leader Kenji Kasen, although he actually had nothing to do with it (real estate mogul Donald Love ordered Claude to make it look like the Cartel's doing to spark a gang war and drive real estate prices down). He is later tied up in the incomplete skyscraper in Fort Staunton by Kenji's sister Asuka and tortured non-stop, although Asuka later grows tired of torturing Miguel, as seen in S.A.M.. She, however, continues to torture him until he is killed by Catalina, when they kidnap Maria and kill Asuka. Catalina assumes command of the Cartel herself. After killing Asuka and trying to escape in a helicopter, her vehicle is shot down by Claude as revenge for shooting him during the bank robbery.

It is clear that the Cartel is linked to the Panlantic Construction Company, a company serving as both a legitimate construction company and a front for illegal operations. In GTA Liberty City Stories, Cartel members were hired by Panlantic as bodyguards for Avery Carrington, who was working for Panlantic and arrived in Liberty City to acquire real estate for development. After Avery was killed by Toni Cipriani, Donald Love took over negotiations with Panlantic to seal the deal on developing Fort Staunton, which would be later destroyed by bombs planted by Cipriani. In GTA III, the construction site in Fort Staunton serves as the Cartel's turf in Staunton Island until it is seized by the Yakuza, erupting into an endless gang war.

With Catalina's death it is certain the gang lost a lot of influence in the city as it would be taken over by a less competent member.

Cartel members wear Hawaiian shirts, combat pants, hats resembling Akubras and boots in GTA III. In GTA Liberty City Stories, the same members wear red or blue shirts with brown vests, pairs of pants and jewelry. Their favorite radio stations in GTA III are Flashback FM and Rise FM.

GTA Advance

In Grand Theft Auto Advance, the gang was initially allied to Advance protagonist Mike, but would later turn against him after suspecting Mike of killing then Cartel leader, Cisco (which is revealed to have been the work of Vinnie). He was succeeded by an unnamed general, who was succeeded by Miguel. At one point in GTA Advance, Cisco centered his gang operations at Francis International Airport.

Trivia

In GTA III, The speech "It's no problem to kill you" and "you gonna be sorry" of Cartel Gangsters also appears in the introduction scene.

The Colombian Cartel may be based on the real-life Cali Cartel, a prominent Colombia-based cocaine-smuggling gang known to have been active in New York City.

The Colombian Cartel members who kidnap the Old Oriental Gentleman in GTA III's introduction do not wear Hawaiian shirts.